Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWMDevelopment of high-performance ta-C-based coatings and innovative tribosystems to achieve superlubricity in machine elements in order to significantly reduce energy waste due to friction and thus lower CO₂ emissions and resource consumption.
Chemical-physical reduction of friction energy – ultra-smooth and super-lubricating coatings for component applications
Completed research project
Project description
As part of the research project on the chemical-physical reduction of friction energy (CHEPHREN), systematic investigations were carried out into superlubricity phenomena and their exploitation for a wide range of applications, as well as the integration of tribosystems with novel materials and lubricants. A total of eight different applications were considered and a cross-scale approach was pursued to investigate the respective technologies. This included both experimental and simulation-based investigations on dedicated models at the fundamental level, through the component level, to analyses at the system level, including consideration of the overall potential for reducing energy consumption and emissions.
Fraunhofer IWM's work packages were:
- Multiscale modeling and tribosimulation for predicting friction and wear
- Surface analysis and characterization of tribofilms, damage mechanisms, and transfer layers
- Atomistic simulation of the interactions of coatings with lubricants (e.g., W-diamond contacts)
Transfer of project results to the following Fraunhofer IWM R&D services for companies:
- Development of DLC coatings for heavily loaded machine components
- Surface analysis on the nanoscale: characterization of tribofilms, wear mechanisms, and damage patterns
- Multiscale tribosimulation: prediction of friction, wear, and energy losses
